Alfred Hitchcock once called Grace Kelly “a snow-covered volcano.” The blonde actress-turned-princess famously embodied the hot Ice Queen cliché, classy on the outside, lustful on the inside—a duality that some consider erotic. Alessandra Rich finds it “an attractive paradox,” and for pre-fall she flirted with the duplicity between proper and naughty, a recurring theme in her work.
Like a Lolita raiding her glamorous mother’s closet, the collection had the feel of playing at being grown-up. Evening frocks in pitch-black or red velvet looked swanky at the front, while revealing a deep-plunging, voluptuous backless rear view; frilly lace bustiers peeked under striped cardis paired with matching barely-there miniskirts; masculine tailored blazers in lamé tweed were thrown over ’80s draped short dresses in turquoise satin, fit for the dance floor. As if covered in stardust, XL sporty denim blousons sparkled with nighttime pizzazz.
Rich believes that her duty as a designer is to help women unleash their inner seductresses, hidden under layers of bourgeois restraint. Fashion is a tool for liberation, and to give latitude to oneself’s multiple facets. Girls behaving like wordly dames, mature women acting like wild teenagers—according to Rich, when it comes to freedom of expression, there’s no stigma attached.
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